Tough TARGETS FOR
INTERNATIONAL
AGRI-TRADE FINANCE
6
policy
What's NewS Issue 5 September 1995
A new policy plan for the coming five years will be published this month.Targets
set for the period 1996 to the year 2000 expect agri-trade finance operations
around the world to generate turnover of USD 20 billion resulting in a hand
some return. Head of international trade finance Shafik Gabr fills in
the strategy behind these tough targets.
'Essentially,' he says, 'we've come up with
these numbers based on the performance of
the trade finance teams worldwide over the
past few years. The previous policy plan,
which ran from 1991 to this current year,
was aiming for global turnover of USD 5 bil
lion. We had already managed to surpass
that target in 1994, and then by no less than
USD 2.3 billion. So our reasoning was that
we could comfortably set our sights very
much higher.'
MARKETING TOOL
The policy plan produced by the interna
tional trade finance team in Utrecht is no
mere 'paper'. Consisting of two 'books', it
examines indepth the bank's present activ-
ities, our strengths and weaknesses in trade
finance areas, and also provides compre-
hensive breakdowns of how our turnover
is actually generated, while making recom-
mendations for future action. 'But we also
wanted to give our people in the field a
tooi they could use in approaching their
markets,' Gabr explains. 'That is why we
have produced a cross-referenced guide to
trade flows in almost 100 countries.'
TRADE FLOW GUIDE
The World Food 6c Agri Trade Guide exami
nes each country individually. Overall im
port and export figures and major trading
partners are listed, but the guide also
provides a breakdown of that particular
country's agri-trade imports and exports.
'It means you can see at a glance which
products play a major role in an economy.
Besides agri-commodities, we have also in-
cluded pharma-products.' In addition to
the country breakdown, the guide also in-
cludes an overview of individual com-
modities. 'This is a cross reference system
so you can see exactly who is doing what
in a particular sector,' Gabr says.
GLOBAL OVERVIEW
All of this information is designed to as-
sist both trade finance and general man
agers in their marketing efforts, but it is
also intended as a support document for
the policy plan's recommendations. 'If
you look at global food and agri-trade
flows, then you see this market is worth
over USD 850 billion annually. This
means our current market share is about
1 percent. We're very active in some sec
tors - dairy, cereals, fruits and oils and
fats. But we have very little presence in,
for example meat, fish, wood and rubber.
All you have to do is glance at the com-
modity overview we have prepared and
you'11 see how important these sectors
are. We should be in there.'
mm NIEUW BELEIDSPLAN VOOR
HANDELSFINANCIERING
Over vijf jaar moeten de handelsfinan-
cieringsteams wereldwijd een omzet
genereren van niet minder dan USD
20 miljard met een bruto resultaat van
USD 80 miljoen. Het nieuwe beleids
plan geeft een duidelijk inzicht in de
handelsstromen per agri-sector in bijna
100 landen. Het plan stelt hoge eisen
aan onze internationale handelsfinan-
cieringsteams. Het nieuwe beleidsplan
wordt deze maand gepresenteerd.
PEOPLE AND PRODUCTS
The policy plan's recommendations includ
the introduction of a management infor
mation system which would provide all
trade finance units with clear information
of progress and costs, and on origination
and expiration of exposures. Short-term
food and agri-related trade finance should
also be a priority in the future, and more
attention for products such as structured
trade finance and hack-to-back L/Cs is
needed. 'In terms of people,' says Gabr,
J
'what we'd like to see is more job rotation
of trade finance specialists from office to
office. On the job training for junior staff
is, of course, important. But we should
also develop a training program for seniors
in the more complex products so that they
can keep their skills up to date. And we M
really should hire more commodity special™
ists. That is actually happening already.'
EUROPEAN FOCUS
While training is perceived as extremely
important, networking is still the key
word in trade finance, as elsewhere in the
bank. Every year, trade finance managers
meet to exchange experience and know
how, and regional conferences are organiz-
ed annually in Latin America and South-
East Asia. 'But if you take Europe, then
you see it has its own set of problems,'
Gabr says. 'In some countries, our trade
finance activities are advanced, while in
others they are still in their infancy. So we
are planning the first European conference
in the spring of next year. We'11 be able to
look closely at specific problems in Europe
while increasing our networking. And tha^
is what it's all about.'
